Beloved radio friends, we greet you in the ever-precious and the worthy name of the Lord Jesus. We turn to the epistle of John, the first epistle, chapter two, and bring to a close our consideration in regard to the classification of God's children in his family. We have noted particularly, God divides his family into three grades. There are the fathers. There are the young men. There are the little children. We have been dwelling in recent messages upon God's teaching through John his servant to the little children. We would now read in first John chapter two, beginning at verse twenty-five through verse twenty-seven. And this is the promise that he had promised us, even eternal life. These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you. But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you. But as the same anointing teacheth you of all things and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him. May God bless the reading and hearing of this portion from his precious and his holy words. Now in the closing consideration of this theme in John, First John chapter two, let us be reminded, the Spirit of God has written much because of the dangers the little children face, and the danger that they face is of a greater importance because it is false teaching. As you may have noticed in verse twenty-six of our reading today, these things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you is the word of John. John recognized that there were those who would lead the little children astray. Now may I repeat what we have stated in the preceding message. The great danger for young Christians is to be led astray by false teaching. It is necessary for every young believer to be conscious of this danger. Do not minimize it. Test what you hear by the Word of God. We have noted some of the things regarding the safety for the young believer. We noted, first of all, they possess the Holy Spirit. Let this fact remain. Let it be sealed to the conscience and to the heart and to the soul. Every believer possesses the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit is given to you. that he might impart spiritual intelligence as well as power. Second, we have also learned that God has given us this truth. John says, I've not written unto you because you know not the truth. You know it. And the truth that you know, hold on to it. Anything outside of it is a lie. And then we also know that in verse twenty-four, an abiding principle of importance, that which ye have heard from the beginning, if it abiding you, Let it therefore abide in you. And if you let it abide in you what you heard from the day of your salvation and went on with Christ, you'll go on with the Son. You'll go on with the Father. You will not stray. And then John adds, as you look at the twenty-fifth verse, he adds, there is a promise. The promise that God has given to us. And what has God promised every one of his children? Even eternal life. Oh, beloved, what a comfort this is. John, by the Spirit, writes to the little children facing these dangers. He declares to them, Don't forget the promise that God's given you and given me and given all of his children, the promise of eternal life. My beloved, I wonder if you've ever read the epistle of John. I wonder if you've ever noted that in the first epistle, chapter five, John declares, These things have I written unto you that you may know that you have eternal life. And may I point out very carefully, if you read the whole epistle, you'll find the word no, K-N-O-W, twenty-seven times. It would be good to read the epistle through and underline every one of them in your Bible. And if you were to read it in the original Greek text, I believe if I recall correctly, you'll find the word no forty-two times. Oh, beloved, what a joy it is for a young Christian to be able to say in confidence because of the word of God declaring it. I know I have eternal life. My beloved, I'd like to raise the question, do you know you have it? We are talking about God the Father in his family. Every member of the family has eternal life. And may I say, if you do not have eternal life, you're not in his family. For you have the life of God when you get into his family. That life is eternal. You live forever. I thank God it doesn't mean you live down here forever. Who would want to? But in the heart and soul of every believer, there is that eternal possession. He that believeth on the sun hath everlasting life. And this is God's promise. Then God never lies. God cannot lie. What a promise. My young Christian, you may find somebody come along and say, you don't have it. Don't believe them. If you have trusted Christ, you rest on what God says. Who says you have eternal life? The Lord Jesus in John five twenty-four said these words, Verily, verily, I say unto you he that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me. half everlasting life, shall not come into judgment. His path from death unto life. Who said it? My beloved, in all sincerity, confidence, and faith, I put my whole trust on the word of the living God. He said, I have eternal life. I have done what he commanded. I have heard the message. I have believed the Father sent the Son. into the world to save me. I have confessed that Christ died for my sins. I have put my trust in His finished work. I have come to Christ. I have received Him. God's Word promises I have eternal life. Now it's a question of whether you believe God or not. All you and I can do is rest. But I want to tell you frankly You can rest perfectly assured, God never lies. You remember what David said, I said in mine haste, all men are liars. Well, he might have been hasty when he said it. But let God be true, and every man a liar, he also wrote. And if you have Christ as your Savior, and you're a child of God, rest on the promise. He has given you eternal life. Again we raise the question to our listeners. Do you have eternal life? And that life you can only have by believing on the Son. He that hath the Son hath life. He that hath not the Son of God hath not life. One or the other. Either you have Christ or you do not. And if you have Christ you've got eternal life. You can't get it without Him. And if you have not Christ, you don't have it. Which is it? You don't have both, that's sure. My friend, if you do not have Christ, be deeply concerned in your soul today to come to him. But now we would close. As John particularly has stated in verse twenty-six, these things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you. I'm writing concerning those that would lead you astray. Be careful of them. Stay away from them. And may we listen to John's admonition. But then John goes further to give him the closing verse. Verse twenty-seven. He gives a closing commendation and assurance. But the anointing, now this anointing again, is the auction that we saw in verse twenty. It is the Holy Spirit. The anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you. Take that home, my beloved radio listener. If you are a believer in the Lord Jesus, and even if you're just a young believer in the Lord Jesus, the Holy Spirit abideth in you. You need not that any man teach you. Now, what does he mean? Does he mean that no one should be a teacher? No, no, no, no, no. No, we believe and we know from the Word of God. He does give teachers to help the saints to teach them the Word of God. Well, what the Apostle John is referring to this fact. He says, you have a divine teacher in the Holy Spirit. And don't listen to the last words of men, but rather to God. For the Holy Spirit will tell you whether that man is speaking the truth or whether he is not. And as the same anointing, the Holy Spirit teaches you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie. And even as it has taught you, ye shall abide in him. I think it would be best to conclude this statement and this reference to the Holy Spirit by saying, The best voice that a young Christian can listen to, for conclusive evidence after the truth, is to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit. Now may I state, now be careful as I make this statement, take it in clearly, may I state the Holy Spirit will never lead you into false teaching. The Lord Jesus said in John sixteen concerning the coming of the Holy Spirit, when he shall come, he shall guide you into all truth. My young Christian, may I commend to you The responsibility as well as the joy of permitting the Holy Spirit to lead you, guide you, teach you, counsel you in regard to the truth of God. He will never lead you astray. And through His Word, He will show you what is wrong, what is corrupt, what is error. And if you will listen to His teaching from the Word of God, Satan will be powerless. against the truth of God when you keep it in its simplicity, for God's truth never changes. And so though there is in every direction, there is difficulty, there are dangers, yet thank God, Christ within us, the Holy Spirit within, the Word of God before us, we can go on. May I close by stating, the fathers, the young men, The little children, these are God's classifications of development and growth in his family. Which of you? If you're a little child, please grow. If you're a young man, please go on to maturity. Father, we pray that the Holy Spirit will sanctify and bless the truth that we have sought to give to the glory of the Lord our Savior and the blessing of his dear saints. In Jesus' name, amen.